This week, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the House Committee on Financial Services held a second round of hearings, as a follow-up to the hearings held

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Wellness International Network Ltd. v. Sharif confirms the long-held and common sense belief that “knowing and voluntary consent” is the key to the exercise of judicial authority by a bankruptcy court judge.1 In short, the Supreme Court held that a litigant in a bankruptcy court can consent—expressly or impliedly through waiver—to the bankruptcy court’s final adjudication of claims that the bankruptcy court otherwise lacks constitutional authority to finally decide.

In In re Cook, 2014 Bankr. LEXIS 67 (B.A.P. 8th Cir. Jan.

On June 25, 2013, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”) issued a memorandum decision in the Lehman Brothers SIPA proceeding¹ holding that claims asserted by certain repurchase agreement (“repo”) counterparties (the “Representative Claimants”) did not qualify for treatment as customer claims under SIPA.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has now weighed in on the Bankruptcy Code’s safe harbor provisions. In Enron Creditors Recovery Corp. v. Alfa, S.A.B. de C.V., Docket Nos. 09–5122, 09–5142, 2011 WL 2536101 (2d Cir. June 28, 2011), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals faced an issue of first impression—whether Section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code, which shields certain payments from avoidance actions in bankruptcy, extends to an issuer’s payment to redeem its commercial paper made before maturity.

Yesterday, following announcements from Ally Financial and JP Morgan Chase of temporary suspensions of foreclosure efforts in certain states, Fannie Mae issued a statement yes

On Friday, the California Department of Financial Institutions closed Sonoma Valley Bank, headquartered in Sonoma, California, and appointed the FDIC as receiver.

Yesterday, Delaware Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath granted a request by Washington Mutual (WaMu) shareholders to appoint an independent examiner, to be chosen by the U.S. trustee, to review assets and claims in the company’s bankruptcy case related primarily to the 2008 seizure and sale of WaMu by the FDIC to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 million.

Yesterday Treasury released "guidance on its role in the exploration of a possible initial public offering of the common stock of General Motors Company." Under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Treasury acquired 60.8% of GM's common stock and $2.1 billion of its preferred stock in connection with GM's restructuring last summer.

Friday, the Minnesota Department of Commerce closed Access Bank, headquartered in Champlin, Minnesota, and the FDIC was appointed receiver. As receiver, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Prinsbank, headquartered in Prinsburg, Minnesota, to assume all of the deposits of Access Bank.